The present invention relates in general to apparatus used in connection with the commercial processing of poultry and particularly to apparatus utilized for dismembering the poultry into the component parts which then may be packaged separately for the market. In particular the present invention relates to apparatus by means of which the legs and thighs of poultry can be separated from the back. In the course of processing the poultry after it has been defeathered, cleaned and the head removed, the neck, wings, and breast may be removed leaving a carcass comprising the legs and thighs attached to the back.
It has previously been the most general practice to separate the legs and thighs from the back of a carcass by hand operation, although thigh pulling equipment of the nature illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,600 has also been utilized. In order to part the leg and thigh from the back in a manner to strip substantially all of the thigh meat from the back, a pulling and twisting motion is utilized which can be accomplished by a human operator in grasping the end of the leg and pulling the leg and thigh away from the back with a simultaneous pulling and twisting motion. Whereas human operators can be trained to be quite efficient in this operation, it is desirable to reduce costs by mechanizing the entire poultry dismembering process as much as possible.